Summary

This data collection consists of a cumulative file of the Politbarometer West surveys for 1991, which queried citizens of the former West Germany. In these surveys, certain topical questions were asked each month and others were asked irregularly or only once. Data cover the most important problems in Germany, level of satisfaction with democracy, party preference, voting behavior in the last parliamentary election, level of sympathy for coalition and opposition parties, and opinions about Gorbachev, Bush, Adenauer, Erhard, Honecker, and Ulbricht. Those surveyed also were asked about the federal railway system, preferences for chancellor, level of support for parties backing Kohl and Engholm, level of support for parties forming coalitions, the similarity/diversity of German political parties, the impact of parliamentary decisions, the economic situation in the former Federal Republic and the German Democratic Republic, and the economic situation of the respondent. Additional questions concerned the competence of the East German administration to alleviate economic problems, whether the Gulf War or the unification of Germany was the main reason for the increasing taxation, the justice of sharing debt between East and West Germany, the dissatisfaction of East Germans with their living situation, the cooperation between the administration and the opposition to solve problems in the East, aid to the Soviet Union, the independence of the Baltic states, whether the Serbs or the Croats were guilty of the violence in the former Yugoslavia, and attitudes toward foreigners in Germany and the rights of asylum seekers.